Networks may limit convention coverage

Major television networks are considering curtailing coverage of the Democratic National Convention after Monday’s announcement that Barack Obama will accept his party's nomination in a Denver stadium.

According to several broadcast executives, the networks will still cover all the major speeches. But beyond that, all options are open as they look for savings to balance out the anticipated costs surrounding the stadium event. The acceptance event is an unexpected departure from the traditional convention hall format for which they have spent months planning.

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Network executives expect Obama’s relatively late-breaking decision to speak at Invesco Field at Mile High, a 76,000-seat football stadium, could add hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs to already cash-strapped news divisions. Each network has budgeted millions to cover the political conventions, but that spending is already accounted for in specific costs ranging from hotel rooms to staffing to building convention platforms.

For most networks, any additional outlays for the convention would come out of their 2008 campaign budget.

Obama’s decision “makes it enormously more expensive,” said Paul Friedman, senior vice president at CBS News. “It does add to the overall question of how the networks should cover what is a non-news event.”

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“We're trying to figure out ways to cover what we need to cover and still stay in our budget,” said Bob Murphy, a 30-year veteran of ABC News and the executive in charge of the network's convention coverage. “The change in the schedule clearly has put some very severe cost issues on the table and we are trying to figure out how to deal with that.”

Among the options now being considered by broadcast executives is a reduction in staffing at the Democratic convention, with some news staff being asked to stay back in New York or Washington instead of traveling to Denver — though that is a measure the networks hope to avoid.

Another alternative that several networks are mulling involves the long-standing idea of anchoring the convention from someplace other than the Pepsi Center, where it is scheduled to be held in August.

One network planner explained that the stadium staging might have only minor repercussions if the networks decide to pool the coverage of the final night’s speech and station their anchors at another Denver location.

The latter possibility — anchoring from somewhere in Denver other than the Pepsi Center or Invesco Field — would save money for the networks on expensive cabling fees, large set costs, staging and staffing, and would allow the networks to plan for the convention with significantly more independence from the convention staff, a pleasing notion to the networks.

Some executives first got word last week that Obama might change the staging of his acceptance speech, an event typically held on the final night of the convention. Network representatives held a tense conference call Monday afternoon to consider the logistical implications of the change in venue from the Pepsi Center to Invesco Field.

In terms of overall impact, ABC News spokeswoman Emily Lenzner said, “While it doesn't change our plans to cover the convention, we are now taking a fresh look at all components of our coverage.”